British rider’s first five-star horse dies, aged 29: ‘We learnt together – I trusted him implicitly and he trusted me’

Running Brook, the horse Georgie Goss rode at her first five-star events, has died, aged 29.

The horse was bought by Georgie’s parents when she was 16 to show her the ropes at intermediate level, but went on to jump clear across country with her at both Badminton Horse Trials and Burghley Horse Trials.

“He surpassed all expectations – when I was only 19, he took me clear across country around Badminton and Burghley,” said Georgie. “He didn’t have the ability of most horses competing at those events but he had more heart than all of them put together.”

Running Brook (George) was produced by Nick Gauntlett to advanced level before Georgie took over in 2006. The pair were sixth at the young rider championships at Weston Park that year and the following year were second in the under-25 championships at Bramham Horse Trials.

In an interview on The Horse & Hound Podcast in 2021, Georgie admitted her next move wasn’t the greatest example for today’s up-and-coming riders.

She said: “I remember ringing Paul [Graham, who worked in the international office at British Eventing] and saying I’d like to do Luhmühlen Horse Trials the following year because I thought we’d give it a go and he said, ‘Oh go to Badminton, it’s free’ – it was the first year they’d brought in free entry – and we thought, ‘Oh well, there’s nothing to lose, we’ll go there.’

“So I rang Yogi [Breisner, trainer] and asked if I’d be ready and he said, ‘Absolutely not, there’s no way, you’ve done one three-star [as they were at the time, now four-star long] and you’ve fallen off at the other one, you’re absolutely not ready’.

“I just thought, ‘I’ll go, what have I got to lose? It’s free’. I was one of only 30 clears that year across country at Badminton and I think we slightly went on a wing and a prayer – that naive streak of just lean back and kick actually sometimes does get you round.”

The pair went on to form a consistent five-star partnership, Running Brook giving Georgie Goss huge experience at the level at a young age – they achieved seven cross-country jumping clears and six completions from eight starts at five-star, their best placing being 17th at Burghley in 2008.

Georgie said: “To say it politely, he was a bit of a camel – he was terrible on the flat. He was nearly full thoroughbred, he never really went on the bit, he couldn’t do a change, he very rarely did much lateral work so actually getting through a dressage test was quite a challenge with him. But he had a heart of gold, he would never fight you or be against you.”

George retired from the top level sound and happy in 2013 and enjoyed some lower-level eventing with Brooke Gardener-Wollen before becoming a “superstar happy hack”. The Spences bought him from his breeder, so he had just two owners in his life.

“He was a true gentleman, he gave absolutely everything,” said Georgie. “If you’d seen him when I bought him you’d have said you’d be lucky to get round a novice, but I think he’s one of those horses who just kept giving.

“I think we were lucky, because I was so naive and so young with him it did wonders for both of us. I didn’t know what I was doing, he didn’t know what he was doing, we just learnt together and grew together. I trusted him implicitly and he trusted me.”

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